• Welcome to the Green and Gold Rugby forums. As you can see we've upgraded the forums to new software. Your old logon details should work, just click the 'Login' button in the top right.

Le Tour 2012

Status
Not open for further replies.
tigerland12

tigerland12

John Thornett (49)
sorenson is my new hero, that was one of the guttsiest efforts I have ever seen.

Froome, looks better then Wiggins. Evans best look is for podium finish right now.
 
G

G&GR News Bot

Guest
  • Bad day for Cadel Evans.
  • Another heroic French victory for Europcar
First Tommy Voeckler, now Peirre Rolland.
As the Team Sky juggernaut rolled mercilessly on behind him, the Frenchman – who crashed on an earlier descent – climbed to a heroic breakaway win while Cadel Evans lost 1:26 to Bradley Wiggins, dropped to fourth overall and must surely question his ability to win the race from here.
In an echo of his Alpe d’Huez win last year, Rolland shed his fellow breakaway riders with 10km still to race and battled to an unlikely 55 second victory. Meanwhile, the GC riders carried out a frantic battle on the final 18km climb with Chris Froome finishing 3rd, Jurgen Van Den Broeck 4th, Vincenzo Nibali 5th and Wiggins 6th. Evans finished alongside Teejay Van Garderen and Frank Schleck in 11th place.
The race kicked suddenly to life when first Janez Brajkovic then Van Den Broeck and Nibali attacked about 11km from the uphill finish. With Michael Rogers spent after an epic ride over the previous couple of climbs, Richie Porte and Chris Froome calmly rode tempo to peg back the gap.
With 7.5km still to go, Wiggins looked in dire straits when Froome began to falter and Porte popped off the back. Defying fatigue, Froome stuck with his leader – dropping him at one point – and putting Evans into serious difficulty.
White jersey Van Garderen put his own ambitions aside to pace a shattered Evans to the finish line as Froome, Wiggins, Nibali and Van Den Broeck charged onwards.
There had been positive signs earlier in the stage when Evans launched an audacious attack from 65km out. With teammate Amael Moinard in the breakaway and Van Garderen waiting just up the road, Evans jumped from the main group to a maximum lead of 15 seconds.
But he suffered on Van Garderen’s wheel and it wasn’t long before the disciplined chase by Rogers and Porte – the Australian contingent on Team Sky – overhauled the struggling defending champ.
Although it didn’t come to fruition, it was a tactically brilliant move – unexpected, well worked and decisive. It blew the race apart. However, it was also a significant psychological victory for the machinelike Team Sky. The attack, while positive for Evans’ fans, came to precisely nothing as Evans didn’t have the legs to match it with the other GC contenders.
Earlier in the day Australian sprinter Mark Renshaw abandoned the race while Swiss time trial master Fabian Cancellara – whose wife is pregnant with the couple’s second child – pulled out overnight.
It’s a Team Sky one-two at the top of the overall classification. Froome jumps into second place, 2:05 behind Wiggins, while Nibali is third at 2:23, Evans is fourth at 3:19 and Van Den Broeck is fifth 4:48 back.
Fredrik Kessiakoff retakes the polka dot jersey while Van Garderen stays in white, Peter Sagan in green and Radioshack top the team classification.
The post Stage 11 Review – Rolland Flies as Evans Flops appeared first on Green and Gold Cycling.

Continue reading...
 
The_Brown_Hornet

The_Brown_Hornet

John Eales (66)
You'd have to think that it's all over for Cadel now. I thought his attempted break away with his team mate was the right call, he just didn't have enough gas to execute it. I leapt out of my chair when I saw him go but unfortunately he just couldn't sustain it. Right strategy, it just didn't work out.
 
Ash

Ash

Michael Lynagh (62)
Chapeau to Cadel and TJVG for proving me wrong and blowing away the old conservative Cadel. It was a courageous move, but he just didn't have the legs. You would think that the Cadel who rode down Schleck on the Galibier last year would have powered away, but it was not to be. In the end Evans struggling up La Toussuire was a flashback to 2006 and the infamous stage where Landis bonked up La Toussuire. Hopefully we won't see a repeat of Landis' escapades the days after, however.

Was it the right move? Knees was riding a soft tempo up the Col de la Croix Fer, and that would have left the Sky domestiques fresh for the relatively easier final major climb up La Toussuire. And even if Cadel didn't go, he was having a bad day by the looks and might have cracked anyway when Nibali started his attacks. I was surprised that Nibali waited to the final climb, but he probably didn't want to risk being ridden down in the flat between mountains again.

It was good to see that Sky are breakable and human though, with Wiggins looking briefly in real trouble, especially when his own teammate Froome attacked but was called back by team management when Wiggins was left behind. You wonder if Froome will be very happy, as chances to win the TdF may not happen often and he appears to the stronger rider in the mountains by some margin.

Good to also see TJVG playing a great teammate and helping Cadel up the final climb after Cadel cracked instead of defending his jersey from Pinot. Hopefully TJVG can hold onto the white jersey whilst still helping Cadel for the rest of the race.

There's just two mountainous stages to come, and I hope Cadel doesn't die wondering. The next high mountain stage is on July 18th, after the second rest day. With two HC climbs followed by two cat 1 climbs and a descent, it should be another interesting stage and another big chance to take some time. Hopefully Evans can get away the final climb or penultimate climb and take time in the descents. I think I'd rather see Cadel attacking and taking risks for a podium or win rather than struggling to hang in for a fourth place. He has won before, and come second twice, so he has nothing to lose by risking a fourth place for something better.

Rolland, Voecklar and Europcar deserve a mention. Between them they've now won three of the last four mountain stages in the Tour - two this year and the final climb up Alp D'Huez. The French have some talented young climbers, with Rolland and Pinot looking to have bright futures.

Tomorrow is another flat stage, which should not affect the GC. It will be interesting to see if GreenEdge and Lotto will chase down the break or not, as there is a cat 3 climb very close to the finish, and an uphill drag to the finish, which you think would favour Sagan.
 
Ash

Ash

Michael Lynagh (62)
The_Brown_Hornet said:
You'd have to think that it's all over for Cadel now. I thought his attempted break away with his team mate was the right call, he just didn't have enough gas to execute it. I leapt out of my chair when I saw him go but unfortunately he just couldn't sustain it. Right strategy, it just didn't work out.
Click to expand...

Yup. July 18th and 19th are the next days to watch out for.

Between then there is a rest day and some more flat and rolling stages. Hopefully Cadel can recover and get some strength back into his legs between now and then. Cadel's big strength (like Contador and other big GC guys) is his recovery. When he hasn't crashed and hasn't been sick he is extremely strong in the final week. Hopefully he can put on another show and can out on top next time.
 
The_Brown_Hornet

The_Brown_Hornet

John Eales (66)
Ash said:
Yup. July 18th and 19th are the next days to watch out for.

Between then there is a rest day and some more flat and rolling stages. Hopefully Cadel can recover and get some strength back into his legs between now and then. Cadel's big strength (like Contador and other big GC guys) is his recovery. When he hasn't crashed and hasn't been sick he is extremely strong in the final week. Hopefully he can put on another show and can out on top next time.
Click to expand...

He can do it, we saw how gutsy he was in the mountains last year when he effectively had to do it all by himself. He has the ticker, hopefully he has the legs too.
 
Moses

Moses

Simon Poidevin (60)
Staff member
With Cadel such a strong technical descender, would some rain on the cobblestones be to his advantage?
 
Ash

Ash

Michael Lynagh (62)
Definitely. Cadel is much better in the wet. Normally Samu Sanchez would be a level above Evans when descending, but last year Evans dropped both Sanchez and Contador in the wet. He's not bad on cobbles, either.
 
Gagger

Gagger

Nick Farr-Jones (63)
Staff member
Would love someone to have a look at the battle for the Green and see if they reckon we have a shot with Gossy and Orica?
 
G

G&GR News Bot

Guest
  • David Millar sprints to victory
  • Matt Goss relegated for dangerous sprinting
  • Michael Rogers and Richie Porte heckled
It’s a British invasion at the 2012 Tour de France. David Millar adds his name to Mark Cavendish, Chris Froome and Bradley Wiggins as British stage winners while Wiggins and Froome remain in the top two spots in the overall classification.
On the longest stage of this year’s race, Millar – a time trial specialist – was in a breakaway group of five riders who gained a maximum lead of 12 minutes and eventually finished almost 8 minutes ahead of a cruising peloton.
The breakaway worked well together for most of the race but as the attacks started to come in the final 3km, it was every man for himself. Jean-Christophe Peraud and Millar were the strongest and grabbed a 50m advantage on the other breakaways.
With just a couple of hundred metres to race, Peraud – sticking resolutely to Millar’s wheel – had the upper hand. The Frenchman lost the battle of nerves though and launched an ill-advised sprint from behind and too far out from the line.
An alert Millar was far too strong and powered away to his first individual stage win since 2003. It’s redemption of sorts for the Scotsman who was banned for two years for doping in 2004.
“I was determined. As soon as I got in the break I had in my head I was going to win. I just gave myself no options and was going to do whatever it took,” he said.
“It’s particlarly poignant as an ex-doper (to win on the anniversary of former British rider Tom Simpson’s death.) It’s a nice kind of full circle that I’ve now won today a clean rider after making the same mistakes that Tommy made.”​
Australian sprinter Matt Goss headed the peloton home but was cited for dangerous riding by race officials after impeding green jersey Peter Sagan and was relegated to seventh place, one behind the Slovakian.
“I was already putting my effort for the line and I was stronger than he was,” said Sagan. “He saw that and blocked me off. It’s something that comes from track cycling; you can only do it on the track, not on the road.”
Matt Goss responded on Twitter.
“First relegation of my career…bit over the top I think. Especially the 30 pts. Sorry for my Orica_GreenEdge teammates who worked all day.”​
Cadel Evans said the ride wasn’t a walk in the park.
“A long and not so easy day, 226km and nearly 6 hours in the saddle,” he said on his website.
“After the last two days, I suspect many in the group would have been waiting for an easier start, but solid racing over 2x Cat. 1 climbs put a lot of guys in the limit.”​
Aussie Team Sky rider took to Twitter to express his frustration at the Australian spectators who heckled him and teammate Richie Porte for their role in putting Evans to the sword on the previous stage.
“Perhaps the Aussies booing Richie Porte and myself today would like to pay our wages from now on! #getoverit.”​
The pair were defended by Aussie sprint legen Robbie McEwen.
“Aussie fans booing @mickrogers & @richie_porte for doing their job. Shame on you. Pull your heads in. #unAustralian,”​
he said on Twitter.
Those booing show a basic ignorance of the sport and I have to agree with McEwen. Shame on you and pull your heads in.
There are no changes in the overall classification or any of the leaders’ jerseys.
The post Stage 12 review – Millar Sprints To Victory appeared first on Green and Gold Cycling.

Continue reading...
 
Ash

Ash

Michael Lynagh (62)
In Brisbane for the Reds Tahs game so i have limited access, but I reckon Goss is toast for the green jersey after yesterday's penalty.
 
Moses

Moses

Simon Poidevin (60)
Staff member
Paris Tah said:
Just back from seeing the action live on the Col de la Croix de Fer. I will post some photos if anyone is interested.
Click to expand...
Reckon you could write a trip report on the experience for the blog? Would be superb, and a great way to show off your pics

Sent from my MB525 using Tapatalk 2
 
G

G&GR News Bot

Guest
  • Andrei Greipel edges out Peter Sagan.
  • Cadel Evans shows he’s willing to fight to the end.
It was supposed to be a day for the sprinters. While the record books will say Andrei Greipel won ahead of Peter Sagan and Edvald Boasson-Hagen into Le Cap d’Adge, it was anything but a typical sprint stage.
“Cross winds and small roads today; even the classics riders said it was a stressful day. Certainly has some dangerous moments,”​
tweeted Cadel Evans.
It started out relatively routine. If you can call a 217km trek at about 45km/hr with cross-winds and a technical course, ‘routine’. But there you go.
A breakaway group escaped the peloton, gained an advantage of about 3 minutes and was dragged in 25km from the line. Normal stuff for a sprint stage. Then Cadel Evans hit the front on the third category Mont Saint-Clair 20km out and blew the race apart. The climb reached a gradient of 9% and only the strongest could go with the move. By the summit, Matt Goss and Mark Cavendish had been dropped and with a fierce cross wind lashing the race, the peloton splintered into many smaller groups.
With 15km to go, Alexandre Vinokourov (who else?) attacked with Albasini of Orica-GreenEdge. The pair was hauled back by Greipel’s Lotto teammates before Luis Leon Sanchez and Mattieu Sprick tried their luck off the front and shed even more riders from the lead group, including all of the sprinters’ lead-out riders.
In the last kilometre, yellow jersey wearer Bradley Wiggins took it upon himself to do the job for Boasson-Hagen. It was a selfless gesture and impressive turn of speed by Wiggins, but Boasson-Hagen started his sprint too soon. He was quickly overhauled by Greipel who barely held off a fast finishing Sagan.
“It was just nice to help Eddie because he’s an absolute gentleman and I’d like to be able to pay him back in some way,”
said Wiggins after the stage.​
With his third stage win, Greipel moves ahead of Goss in the green jersey classification.
“It was close until the end,” he said. “I was dropped on the climb but I was going full gas on the way up and I had to do a sprint at the top to get in a small group. Lars Bak brought me back then the team chased Vinokourov and Albasini. When Luis Leon Sanchez attacked I thought, ‘Okay, now it’s over…’ but I was happy that Sky was still there and I could work out how to win the stage because I think my team deserves it.”​
While Evans’ GC situation is as grim as ever, his attack confirmed he won’t die wondering. With the Pyrenees coming up on stage 14, we can still look forward to some exciting racing ahead.
There are no changes in any of the classification jerseys.
The post Greipel Grinds Out Third Stage Win. appeared first on Green and Gold Cycling.

Continue reading...
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top